My slide deck from Digital Dealer "7 Myths of how people search for a car on line"

Digital Dealer was again a great venue this year. For those that wanted my slide deck and for those that couldn't make here is my presentation.

After reviewing 35 hours of people searching for car online on video we came to some shocking revelations that dispell a lot of myths we have been told over the years about how, where and why people shop online for a car.

Happy to answer any question about this slide deck.

Enjoy!

How people search - Presentation Transcript

1. 7 Myths about How, Where and Why people search for a car and what they do when they get there
   VINSolutions Dealer Advisory Board
   Meeting Las Vegas NV 10.12.10
   Larry Bruce President / CEO
   MicrositesByU.com
   @pcmguy.
2. PPC #1 way you can conquest new business for your dealership
3. What’s holding you back?
4. 7 Myths that have been heaped on us with little or no basis of actual behavior
   •People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer
   •Internet shoppers are price driven
   •The internet is better for used than new cars
   •Organic links are trusted more than sponsored
   •The long tail search phase
   •People will go online and just come into the dealership
   •You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM , AutoTrader or Cars.com
   
5. •Over 35 hours of video
   •109 users
   •436 searches
   
6. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer
7. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Of the 26% that converted:
   
8. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Why did they convert there?
   This same scenario happened 86% of the time a user landed on a 3rd party site
   
9. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer How did they get there?
   
10. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer What would have happened if?…
    Number of Mustangs available
    What types are available
    How much they cost
    
11. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Version 2 payment
    
12. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Version 3 trade‐in
    
13. Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Things you can do to your website / landing experiences to instill trust. Reviews used by 32% of the users tested
    •Put your eBay rating on your home page with a link to the ratings
    •Put your Google ratings on your home page with a link
    •Put your Yelp ratings on your home page with a link
    •Use some excepts from letters or surveys on your home page
    •Facebook Like button on your home page and in special pages and your blog.
    
14. Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want?
    28% of the time a visitor will search themselves right out of a car
    
15. Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want?
    Volzauto before
    
16. Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want?
    Volzauto After
    
17. 
    
18. Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want?
    
19. Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want?
    •1 click access to the most popular selling vehicles
    •UserTesting.com to find trouble spots in you conversion funnel
    •Crossbrowsertesting.com to find the breaks in code
    This has doubled Volz Auto Groups Lead Conversion Rate
    
20. How Split Testing Works
    Split Testing Platform
    
21. How Split Testing Works
    www.google.com/websiteoptimizer Split Testing Platform
    
22. Myth 3: The Internet is more suited to used cars than new Search testing found New & Used to be evenly split
    
23. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links For pure purchase intent sponsored links converted 300% higher than organic links
    
24. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links CarMax landing pages showed up in 33% of the searches that were performed in this test all sponsored links
    
25. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links For pure purchase intent sponsored links converted 300% higher than organic links
    
26. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Organic traffic is inconsistent. You have no idea what the users intent really is other than 70% of
    the time they were looking for your dealership to do something
    The term Random access website refers to your main site where the users intent isn’t clear and there is a lot of navigation for them to get lost in the page shuffle
    
27. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Organic traffic is inconsistent. You have no idea what the users intent really is other than 70% of the time they were looking for your dealership to do something
    
28. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links You will get higher conversions and better results out of PPC than organic SEO efforts but to do so you have to optimize at all 4 dimensions of online marketing Test‐Driven Marketing:
    •Geo‐location
    •Keyword / placement Making
    •Ad position agile marketing strategic
    •Landing / Conversion growth engine.
    
29. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Test Driven Marketing
    Ad Group
    Ad Split testing for Ad Ad Ad
    CTR
    Ad Split testing for Landing Landing Landing
    Conversion
    
30. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Test Driven Marketing
    Ad Group
    Ad Split testing for
    Winning Ad
    CTR
    Ad Split testing for Winning
    Conversion Landing
    
31. Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links A culture of constant improvement
    Ad Group
    Ad Split testing for
    New Ad New Ad Control Ad
    CTR
    Ad Split testing for New New Control
    Conversion Landing Landing Landing
    
32. Myth 5: The long tail search phrase Yes in overall internet searches long tail search phrases 4+ words are 23% of the searches and do have higher intent. But in the car business this is not the case.
    
33. Myth 6: People are going to your site and looking at vehicles then showing up on your lot The internet is an “Influencing Medium”. If you believe that then I have other stuff I want to sell you
    
34. Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com Yes at the local level you absolutely can and you absolutely should.
    Other contributing factors to
    the search
    •Location 54%
    •Product 80%
    •Avg number of searches 3.5
    
35. Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com Yes at the local level you absolutely can and you absolutely should.
    Location 54%
    
36. Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com OEM Involvement
    
37. Remarketing
    23% Email Capture Rate / 37% Call Rate
    
38. Remarketing
39. Remarketing
40. Remarketing
41. Remarketing
    12% Click Through Rate
    17% Conversion Rate
    
42. Integrated Channels
    Honda
    CTR – 3%
    Conversion – 31%
    
43. Integrated Channels
44. Integrated Channels
    Budget ‐ $500
    Honda Service for Schools
    www.supplies4kids.com ; Service Your Honda and Help a child with School Supplies!
    CTR – 7%
    Conversion – 23%
    
45. Integrated Channels
    Budget ‐ $200
    CTR – 3%
    Conversion – 47%
    
46. Integrated Channels
    Important: Service your Honda help a child get school supplies http://bit.ly/4kids Haynes Honda donates $1 for each RETWEET
    Retweets – 1112
    142 new followers
    Conversions – 115 last count
    
47. Integrated Channels
48. Summery
    •3rd parties DO NOT have a Brand or a trust advantage. They don’t really even have an SEO advantage
    •You’re going to get a lot farther if you give visitors what they want, when they want it the way they want it than trying to run a bunch more people to your website and convert the same lousy percentage.
    •Internet user don’t play favorites with new or used and they both convert just as easily.
    •Organic links do not have some magic hold over the customer and are very inconsistent when it comes to intent.
    •To make PPC really work you have to control all dimensions of the online marketing experience.
    •Split testing is really the only way to consistent double digit conversion rates and constant improvement.
    • if you’re one that believes the internet is an influencing medium then you may be joining some of our less fortunate car brethren that no longer have a store.
    •You absolutely can and should eliminate 95% of your dependence on 3rd parties between you and your visitor / customer.
    •Targeted PPC + Remarketing will pick you up to a 40%+ Conversion Ratio
    •Integrating Channels the right way increases conversions into the 30%+ range